I’m a veteran Chicago-based consumer automotive journalist devoted to providing news, views, timely tips and reviews to help maximize your automotive investments. In addition to posting on Forbes.com, I'm a Contributing Editor for Consumers Digest magazine and write frequently on automotive topics for other national and regional publications and websites. My work also appears in newspapers across the U.S., syndicated by CTW Features. I'm the author of the Automotive Intelligentsia Money-Saving New-Car Guide and the Automotive Intelligentsia series of Sports Car Guides, available via Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble online and at the Apple iBook store. Email me at carguyjim@att.net.

Got A Ticket? Here's How Much Your Car Insurance Premiums Will Increase

Among all the factors that determine what a given motorist will pay for car insurance – including age, sex, marital status, address and the make and model of car – the most critical is one’s driving record. The difference between having a clean history and one that’s pockmarked with citations can mean hundreds of dollars or more a year out of pocket. Tack on multiple at-fault accidents and you might be virtually uninsurable.

Depending on the violation, getting just a single ticket can boost an average policyholder’s auto insurance premiums by as much as 22 percent, according to an analysis of over 490,000 policy quotes conducted by Insurance.com.

Being cited for reckless driving was found to boost premiums by the largest margin at the aforementioned 22 percent. For the uninitiated, Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary defines reckless driving as, “Operating an automobile in a dangerous manner under the circumstances, including speeding (or going too fast for the conditions, even if within the posted speed limit) and other careless and dangerous driving behavior.” A first offense for driving under the influence (DUI) was second at a 19 percent increase, followed by driving without a license at 18 percent and careless driving at 16 percent.

These are, of course, all averages for a single incident; penalties may be higher for certain drivers, especially those with various violations on their records. For example, the survey found that (given the vagaries of actuarial data) divorced motorists are often penalized more than single married drivers for given offenses. A divorced person cited for reckless driving might find his or her insurance costs rising by seven percent more than someone who’s single and four percent more than a married driver. Similarly, condo owners are sometimes hit with higher increases after receiving tickets than are renters, single-family homeowners or motorists who live with their parents.

Here’s the full list of how much common tickets will boost auto premiums, on average, as determined by Insurance.com:

Reckless driving: 22 percent

DUI first offense: 19 percent

Driving without a license or permit: 18 percent

Careless driving: 16 percent

Speeding 30 mph over the limit: 15 percent

Failure to stop: 15 percent

Improper turn: 14 percent

Improper passing: 14 percent

Following too close/tailgating: 13 percent

Speeding 15 to 29 mph over limit: 12 percent

Speeding 1 to 14 mph over limit: 11 percent

Failure to yield: 9 percent

No car insurance: 6 percent

Seat belt infractions: 3 percent

Those facing a rate increase following a traffic violation or accident are advised to shop around among multiple carriers to find one that’s willing to offer a lower premium. Some carriers are more or less tolerant of motorists with imperfect driving records than others. Also, exploit all available discounts your company may offer to help negate a premium boost. Most insurers will offer a discount for bundling home and auto insurance policies, for example, and many will grant a rate reduction to policyholders who attend “safe driving” classes and/or have security systems installed on their cars.

Finally, if you find your insurance costs soaring out of reach, consider raising your deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage, which regard physical damage to your car where another driver is not at fault. According to Insurance.com, boosting these deductibles from $250 to $500 can shave around 30 percent off those sections of your car’s coverage. If you have an older car, consider dropping comprehensive and collision altogether to save even more money.

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The Detroit News reports insurance premiums have declined 5 years in a row. I can’t remember a cycle like this ever. Of course, not everybody has had a decline, mine actually went up high but found “Clearance Auto” that I could easily reduce it

Jim: I got a speeding ticket a few months back. I’ve had a couple over the years, and managed to avoid any points by writing letters of explanation to the court. I still had to pay substantial fines. This time, the officer told me “my attitude made all the difference” (I guess I wasn’t talking back) so he only ticketed me for going 5 mph over the limit instead of 15. Still, I was shocked that the fine was $105 for a 5 mph violation! Anyway, I grudgingly paid it, and then got a letter from the state saying that if I took a safe driving class I would avoid points on my record. Since I also happen to be teaching my teenager to drive, it seemed kind of hypocritical not to take it. I did an online version that cost me about $60 and took 3-4 hours over several evenings. It really wasn’t too bad, and I think it’ll make me a better teacher for my daughter. Plus, it was worth it to avoid the points on my driving record. Our car insurance is due for renewal this month. I’ll be interested to see whether it goes up!

Personally, I’ve contested many moving violations over the years, and for the most part the worst I’ve ever gotten was having to pay the fine once and do time in a mind-numbing driving class to keep the points off my record. Used to be if it wasn’t a serious violation, the traffic court here in Chicago would be lenient if you showed up in court and looked/acted presentable. Early in my test-driving career I got caught going 55 on a 45 mph on Lake Shore Drive driving a Porsche 944 one evening. I went before the judge, and in a case of my mouth running faster than my brain could possibly control, hastily explained that I shouldn’t be held responsible since I was only going 10 mph over the limit and if I really wanted to go fast in a Porsche I’d be going a lot quicker than that. Much to my surprise he agreed with me and it was “case dismissed.”

Traffic school is really your worst option, because most tickets are eventually taken off your record. However, because most states only allow you to take traffic school a limited amount of times in your LIFETIME, a ticket for which you took traffic school is never erased off of your driving record, even if you live to be 100. Fighting the ticket usually means that you still have to pay the fine, but in 99% of cases you will not get any points.

Wow! I had no idea that there was so much of a penalty on your car insurance for these violations! So, these hikes apply to any ticketed violation? How much more is the penalty if you get into a car accident because of one of these? Great article, Jim.

As municipalities struggle with their budgets, you can bet police officers, especially those designated exclusively for traffic control like motor-cycles, are under explicit instruction to ignore leniency and write those tickets. Now, as is noted in this article, the officers may be open for negotiation depending upon our attitude. However, the actual fines are going to be increasingly painful as these economic woes linger. They are a legal way to extract a bit more from us, its loyal citizens!

I got an auto quote from State Farm that was pretty reasonable. I paid my 6 month premium in full right away because I already had homeowners with them and I’d had auto insurance with them for over ten years in the past. Two weeks later, they called me back saying I had to pay 45% more or they’d cancel my policy. All because they found my first ticket–a “failure to yield” ticket from two years and eighth months earlier. I asked if the 45% surcharge would drop off when the ticket aged off my record and the agent said no, they penalize for the first three years after I opened the policy. After reading this article, it sounds like the agent seriously miscalculated my quote. I’d already filed a complaint with my state’s insurance commissioner, so I hope I get things resolved!

In most states, speeding violation can be dismissed by taking a defensive driving course (alos called traffic school). Completing a defensive driving course will prevent the ticket from showing up on the driver record and preventing the insurance premiums from going up. In Texas, a defensive driving can be taken also without having received a ticket.